Bound by Vengeance (24 page)

“By killing me.”

He shrugged. “It has to be one or the other. At least you have a choice in the matter. What’s it going to be, cupcake?”

Forcing her attention to the small fireplace lining the wall and the wild fern spilling over the top
of the mantle, she struggled to get her temper under control. For the moment, it was winning over her fear. Grinding her teeth, she ignored him. Laychee stood with a nod.

“Think it over. I’m going to leave you in the care of my associates while I pay your
lover a visit. I’d play nice if I were you. My aversion for Sebastian is way too strong to enjoy his sloppy seconds, but I assure you the other men here have no such reservations.”

Her stomach rolled, and the bitter scald of acid splashed the back of her t
hroat. Straining against the ties binding her hands behind her back, Taylor thrashed in her chair. “What the hell do you want from me?” she screamed.

He regarded her with a soulless smile. “You’ll find out soon enough.”

His tongue felt thick and swollen.
Fighting to shake the metallic taste clinging to the inside of his mouth, Sebastian grimaced. Everything ached. His entire body felt tense and sore. Cold, he tried to roll over in search of Taylor. Confusion spiraled through him when he found himself immobilized and unable to turn. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he registered the fact he wasn’t in his bed. He was sitting up.

As strength and comprehension started to return, he jerked his arms only to find them useless. Pain shot through the stiff muscle
s of his neck as Sebastian flung his head back. Holding it up was a battle he lost several times. His eyes kept drifting closed, his vision too blurred to make out his surroundings. A familiar voice called from his right, the sound helping to coax him from his dazed cocoon.

“There you are,” Dominic said. “I was starting to think we’d lost you. Did you have a nice nap?”

Sebastian squinted, trying to focus on the man’s wide features.

Nap? What the hell was he talking about?

The question and triumphant leer his teammate boasted threw him for a loop. His head threatened to fall backwards. The sudden instability made him feel like he was falling and he jolted in an attempt to steady himself. This time, Sebastian became all too aware of the tight restraints securing his arms. Glancing down, he stared at the thick coils of duct tape winding in sections from his wrists to just before his elbows. Fury and disbelief grappled for control. Lifting his gaze, he pinned Dominic with a murderous glare.

“I’m going to kill y
ou for this,” he warned in a strained whisper. His pale eyes narrowed with hatred and rage swelled as the memories slowly filtered back to him. Dominic laughed.

“Spare me the bravado, Baas. You’re in no position to make threats. In fact, now would be a go
od time for you to start begging.”

“I don’t make threats and I don’t beg, Dominic. Not for you. Not for anyone.”

“Oh, I think you’re wrong there, Sebastian. You’re right about one thing. You’d never beg for your own life. You’re way too stubborn and prideful for that, but I’m willing to bet all of that goes out the window when it comes to Taylor.”

His head snapped up at the sound of her name. Blinding fury bubbled through his veins just hearing the bastard mention her. A sick sense of dread pulsed beneath t
he surface as he remembered his phone going off right before the traitorous son-of-a-bitch stuck him in the neck. If they hurt her….

He clenched his jaw, his heart sinking. It wasn’t a question of if—it was a matter of how bad. Tamping down a wave of pani
c, he fought to keep his expression neutral and scanned the walls in search of a clock.

“What, no answer for that one, Baas?” Dominic taunted.

Forcing his attention back to his teammate, he shrugged as much as the compromised position would allow. “She’s a good lay, but that’s nothing that can’t be replaced. I think you overestimate my capacity for emotion.”

“You’re full of shit,” Dominic countered.

“Am I?” Sebastian asked, his stare tracking the hefty man as he strode back and forth in front of him. “I pawned my sister off on the first man I could find because I didn’t want the hassle. My niece is living with her grandparents because that was the most convenient arrangement I could think of and one less problem I’d have to deal with. My half-brother and nephew are lying in the ground. Did I ever bother to ask who was responsible or seek revenge? If that wasn’t enough to break me, what makes you think I would crack over a piece of tail?”

Doubt flickered across his teammate’s stony face before he shook his hea
d and pointed with a reproachful wag of his finger. “No, Sebastian. That’s not going to work. See, I work for the same organization you do. I know what you are up to here. No one is that cold and heartless, not even you.”

“Think
what you want. Just remember there is a reason Marx prefers me over the rest of you, men with more time and experience under their belts.”

Dominic whirled and drove a meaty fist into his gut. The force doubled him over and propelled the chair across the co
ncrete floor. The sound of scraping metal grated in his ears while the air left his lungs in an excruciating whoosh. Another blow followed in quick suit, forcing the chair back another foot. Gasping and snorting through his nose, Sebastian hung against his restraints, reminding himself not to let the man catch him off guard again. His ragged coughs bounced off the walls, reverberating through the vast warehouse.

“Don’t get fucking cocky with me! I’m done playing games with you, Baas. Now I don’t want to br
eak you before Laychee gets here and has his fun, but I’ll be damned if I am going to listen to you run your lips and throw your position in my face. Whatever power you had is gone. You’d do well to remember that.”

So Laychee was going to show his face aft
er all. It didn’t surprise him. Revenge was a very personal thing. Still, that little bit of information was something he might be able to use to his advantage. Lifting his head, he forced an icy smile.

“Is that so?” he rasped. The throbbing in his midsec
tion made it difficult to speak, but he spoke as evenly as he could. “Do you know what the problem with men like you is, Dominic? You let your egos get in the way. You underestimate other people while overestimating yourselves. Todd made the same mistake once. Look where it landed him.”

A heavy blow rocked his face to the side. Pain exploded above his right eye, and for a moment, the room spun. Sinister warmth traced his temple and soaked his vision red.

“Look where it landed you,” Dominic stated.

“Exactly,
” Sebastian managed to choke. “Did you really think I wouldn’t know this was a set up? Come on. You’ve had it in for me since Todd went off the grid and everyone knows it. Everyone,” he added in a low whisper. “You’re a problem, just like your partner. Why do you think we paired the two of you up?”

“Shut up!”

Sebastian ignored him. “What do we do with problems, Agent Chase? We let them dig their own hole and we bury them in it. You don’t find it the slightest bit suspicious that Laychee wanted nothing to do with his brother until after his expulsion from SKALS? Their rift was mended just like that? His brother,
your partner
, turns up missing and all of a sudden, the guy is your best friend? Nothing about that raises any red flags to you?”

“What the hell are
you getting at, Sebastian?” he snapped. Despite his gruff tone, worried lines were starting to inch across his forehead.

“Maybe you’re not as smart as you think, Agent Chase. How do you know this whole Laychee thing wasn’t some elaborate scheme to test you
r loyalty and to see where your mindset was after losing your partner? Do you think they don’t track us?” he asked with a skeptical look. “’Did you really think no one would notice what you were up to?”

“Bullshit!”

His teammate spun on him with an enraged snarl. This time, the chair teetered onto its hind legs, and his chest quaked with the force of the blow. Groaning, Sebastian coughed and slumped forward as much as his restraints would allow. He wondered if it had been an hour yet. He sincerely hoped it had. Josh needed to hurry the hell up. The punching bag routine was already starting to take a toll, and he had no doubt things would only get worse when Laychee arrived. As numbing as the thought was, he knew this was just a warm-up.

“It doesn’t matter wha
t they know. You’re going to give me your passwords, Baas, or things are going to get very nasty very quick. Not just for you, but for Taylor as well. See, you’ve had the mental and physical preparation for situations like these, but I’m willing to bet she hasn’t had the same.”

His jaw steeled, but he said nothing.

“Have you put her through any training? Does she know how to resist extreme interrogation or will she cave? I bet she’ll cave. I bet she’ll cave quickly.”

He met the calculating gleam in his tea
mmate’s eyes with an expressionless shrug. “Do what you want. She doesn’t know anything.”

“We’ll see soon enough, won’t we? You can spare her though. Tell me what I want to know and I’ll have Laychee’s men put her down quick.”

Letting his head fall back, Sebastian focused on the yellowed lights dangling from the ceiling and gave a soft grunt.

“Fuck you.”

He didn’t move when he heard the side doors open and a cold blast of fresh air swept through the warehouse. It hit his sweat-soaked skin in a frigid blast. He knew, without looking, Laychee had just arrived and hell was hot on the man’s heels. Sebastian stiffened and nodded to himself with a sigh. As difficult as it was, it was time to shut down. Physically, mentally, emotionally—it was the only way he was going to survive.

Taylor’s heart hammered so hard and so fast, the furious pounding threatened to make her sick. She glanced between two of Laychee’s men as they entered the room. Both of them hardened with weather beaten faces and dark fatigues. The thought was almost laughable. Men like them didn’t deserve the clothes they were wearing. They belonged in prison jumpsuits with numbers stamped across their back. Not knockoffs of civil service uniforms with patches on their arms bearing the illusions of grandeur they’d conjured within their own ranks.

Biting her cheek, she turned her face away as the smaller of the two crouched in front of her. He was a wiry man with reddened skin and a bulbous, inflamed nose that spoke of too much booze. She winced when the
smell of stale beer assaulted her, riding on the hot torrent of his breath.

“Aren’t you a cute little thing?” he asked, running his calloused palm up the outside of her leg.

Her stomach churned, and Taylor bucked against her restraints, fury flashing in her eyes as she struggled to shake his touch.

“Get your hands off of me!”

Using the only weapon she had, she spit in his face. The thin man reared back, shock flickering across his pinched features. Her gratitude was short lived. He struck out, hitting her with a heavy backhand that snapped her head around and left her dazed. It hurt. It hurt like hell, and Taylor blinked against the tears building in her eyes.

“Someone needs to teach you some manners, little girl,” he said. “You migh
t’ve broken Jeffrey’s nose, but you aren’t pulling that shit with me. You’re gonna play nice, or I’m going to let my friend here break your ass in half. You got that?”

Her gaze darted to the “friend” in question and her heart drummed a little faster. He wa
s a huge bull of a man, with the flat features of a gorilla. His thin lips pursed in a tight line of displeasure. She shrank back, watching his heavy muscles strain against his uniform as he stepped toward her. One corner of his mouth quirked in amusement.

“I think she’s starting to get the point, Serge.”

Taylor scoffed at the title, despite herself. She wished she hadn’t. The larger man’s pale hazel eyes swung her way and pinned her with a cold stare. She shivered. Set against his bronze skin, they appeared more yellow than green, lending him an almost serpentine glare. It was certainly as empty and ruthless, like a predator sizing up its prey.

“Is something funny, princess?” he asked, leaning over to brace his hands on the arms of her chair.

Swallowing against a thick knot of fear, Taylor lifted her chin. “Do you really think I would be more afraid of you than someone like Sebastian?”

His smile was cold and condescending. “I would hope so. Daddy’s not here right now, sweet cheeks. We are.”

“Yeah well apparently hope doesn’t get us far. I went to bed hoping for a good night’s sleep, too,” she said sadly. “I guess neither of us is going to get what we want.”

He studied her for a long moment then straightened with a humorless laugh. “Give us the password fo
r the computer system then we’ll talk.”

“It’s too late,” Taylor whispered. “I wouldn’t be able to sleep anyway.”

“If you don’t start talking, sweetheart, you and your lover will be going to sleep for good,” he said, pressing closer with a sneer.

She wince
d at the term of endearment. All it did was make her think of Sebastian. Her chest ached with longing and dread. It didn’t matter what she said—what she did. The chances of seeing him again were slim to none. As strong and smart as he was, there was a possibility he could find his way out of whatever mess he was in, but she wouldn’t be as lucky. Sooner or later, these men were going to kill her. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt him or let him down. If Sebastian ever did find his way home again, it wouldn’t be to discover her last act on earth had been one of cowardice and betrayal. She wouldn’t do that to herself or him.